I thought I'd upload some photos of my studio here since that's where I've been spending a lot of time lately.

♥

Anyway, here's where I spend my time scribbling away and making a mess. Having worked in my bedroom in my parents' house all my life, it's been a real blessing to finally get a studio all to myself. I moved into our lovely flat when we got married last October and I've been busy, since then, trying to get the studio sorted out and all my art materials tidied away in places where I can still find them. It's still a bit messy, but that's what studios are meant to be like I guess and I'm trying not to anal about dirt and untidiness since about a quarter of the room is also my husband's general bike and bike-paraphernalia space!

I'm storing the candles from our wedding above my computer desk until I can think of a better place to put them. That's my make-up mirror, by the way.

The nice, big window lets a lot of light in which is great for drawing. My dad made me that white desk on the left. You can lower it and tilt it which is incredibly handy.

Ikea storage is gooood.

First tiny patch of inspirational artwork etc. There's a flyer for the film Antichrist and some prints I got in an art trade with Justin Barlett.

Small skull collection

It's a bit messier on this side, but that's my computer desk on the left and on the right is more art materials and bits and bobs stacked on ikea garden shelves, believe it or not.

Here's the window sill with some heart boxes, a very retro clock (I can't read analogue clocks) and the ring holder I painted with palmistry signs which I still have to post some photos of actually...

My brother-in-law showed me how to make this really easy starter the other day so I decided to try it out at home. Yay!

1. Take the lid off a box of camembert and cut little 'X's over the surface with a knife ♥ 2. Slice up a clove of garlic and stick the slices into the crosses. Stick in some sprigs of thyme if you have some (we didn't, as you can see...) ♥ 3. Pour a little white wine over the surface (water will also do) ♥ 4. Bake in the oven at 200C for about 15-20 minutes or until the inside is melted ♥ 5. Serve with crusty bread or vegetables for dipping

Last year for valentines day I made my husband (then just my boyfriend) a heart shaped box full of Earl Grey tea cupcakes. This year, I managed to find a heart-shaped cake tin just in time to make a cake for our first valentines day together as a married couple. It was a chocolate fudge cake and, yes, our initials are indeed 'T' and 'A' which is kind of awesome!

I made some heart bunting too because I had about ten seconds free time and thought it would be cute (I think this is what having pinterest does to you).

It seemed pointless to try to go to a restaurant for dinner since everywhere would most likely be fully booked. Instead, we walked to our usual coffee shop in town which was happily nice and empty. I even decided to dress up a little (I don't need much of an excuse really). I'm wearing the cross pendant my friend Ruth made for us as a wedding present. My husband has a matching one too.

We got a free valentines cake slice thingy with little hearts on it from the cafe. They were handing them out all day to customers. How cute it that?

Here's my attempt at making lavender cake pops. I've given up on using the sticks lately so I guess these aren't technically cake pops, I guess. More like cake... "fancies"? Hmm, I'll have to work on this idea some more. Anyway, I used my cake pop machine for this (like a toastie maker but it bakes little round cakes instead!) and the recipe for vanilla cake pops that came with the machine. I just substituted the vanilla extract with lavender extract and added a little red and blue food colouring to make it purple. It turned out a bit more grey instead, but you get the idea.